'Midnight Madness' draws shoppers to Boulder, Broomfield retailers

People crowd into shopping centers at midning on Black Friday

By Alicia Wallace, Camera Staff Writers

Posted:
11/24/2011 11:31:58 PM MST

Retailers who pushed for an earlier start on Black Friday than normal appeared to be rewarded in Boulder and Broomfield counties, where tens of thousands of people flocked to shopping centers for midnight openings.

Whether that heavy traffic translated to overflowing cash register drawers, however, remains to be seen.

Thirty minutes after watching thousands of people — the vast majority of whom were older teens and young adults — surge through five different entrances at FlatIron Crossing, the Broomfield mall's senior marketing manager hedged before declaring the property's first-ever midnight opening a success. More than 150 of the mall's tenants opted to set up shop early.

“Yes, we have the crowds,” said Heather Drake, marketing manager. “How does that convert into sales?”

Nationally, a record 152 million people were expected to shop at stores or online on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, according to the National Retail Federation. Black Friday additionally was projected by ShopperTrak to maintain its claim as the busiest shopping day of the year — a title it has held for the past seven years — as retailers advertised discounts as high as 70 percent.

Also banking on a strong “Black Friday Weekend” are a number of independently operated Boulder County businesses participating in “Small Business Saturday,” an American Express-created campaign designed to funnel some of the billions of dollars spent into the pocketbooks of small, local businesses.

In Boulder and Broomfield counties, the anecdotal evidence was a mixed bag in the early stages of Black Friday.

At midnight, hundreds of people filed into Boulder's Best Buy and Target stores to get their hands on discounted electronics. In Broomfield, thousands of people rushed FlatIron Crossing mall.

Jennifer Back, 29, who classified herself as a seasoned Black Friday shopper, looked around at the thousands of people waiting in line to get into FlatIron Crossing and said she knew she had her work cut out for her.

“Everybody's out, so it makes it harder,” Back said.

Jo Painz, left and her mother Doreen guard their buying haul as other members of their group shop at the FlatIron Crossing Mall as the shopping center opened at midnight in Broomfield for the traditional start of the holiday shopping season.
November 25, 2011.
Photo by Paul Aiken / The Camera (PAUL AIKEN)

Last year, a 45-minute wait outside The Children's Place netted $250 in savings on Christmas presents for Back's two toddlers. The economic state of the past few years has caused her to keep a sharper eye on her spending, she said.

“I'm a huge bargain shopper, a huge coupon-er,” she said.

Once the crowds funneled into the mall, some stores, including Lids — with a “buy one (hat) get a second ½ off” deal — quickly became packed. A line also formed at skater clothier Tilly's, which boasted gift cards valued between $10 and $100 for the first 100 customers.

An hour into the “midnight madness,” the crowds remained, but the iconic image of the Black Friday shopper schlepping a few bags in each hand was few and far between.

Like retailers across the country, local businesses will have a better gauge in the coming week on whether their Black Friday Weekend efforts were successful.

ShopperTrak is expected to release sales data Saturday on how Black Friday fared, but a better picture will emerge when major retailers report their November sales figures next Thursday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Camera Business Writer Alicia Wallace at 303-473-1332 or wallacea@dailycamera.com.

Zane Carkeek, left and John Shannon, show their happiness of getting in line at a store at the FlatIron Crossing Mall as the shopping center opens at midnight in Broomfield for the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. The first 100 people in line at this store will receive a $100 gift card.
November 25, 2011.
Photo by Paul Aiken / The Camera (PAUL AIKEN)

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.

Boulder is pretty good at producing rock bands, and by "rock," we mean the in-your-face, guitar-heavy, leather-clad variety — you know, the good kind. For a prime example, look no farther than BANDITS. Full Story